


four holidays Meredith and Derek spent together and one they didn't

by lone_lilly



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Holidays, New Year's Eve, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-22
Updated: 2008-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-11 17:01:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lone_lilly/pseuds/lone_lilly





	four holidays Meredith and Derek spent together and one they didn't

  
  
  
  
  


**Entry tags:**

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[ga: derek/meredith](http://la-scapigliata.dreamwidth.org/tag/ga:+derek/meredith), [grey's anatomy](http://la-scapigliata.dreamwidth.org/tag/grey%27s+anatomy)  
  
  
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four holidays Meredith and Derek spent together and one they didn't

**Title:** four holidays Meredith and Derek spent together and one they didn't  
**Rating:** PG-13 for vague references to sex  
**Word count:** 5 ficlets at 450 words each = 2250  
**Written for:** [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/greysaddict522/profile)[**greysaddict522**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/greysaddict522/) (for the [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/elevatorjunkies/profile)[**elevatorjunkies**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/elevatorjunkies/) Secret Santa 2008 ficathon), I hope your holidays are wonderful. I tried to be as good to Derek as I could. I think he's earned it. :)  
**Prompt:** _ "I would love to see M/D ring in the New Year together. Fluffy or angsty - anything works."_

**01\. Thanksgiving**

It's the first Thanksgiving since they started at Seattle Grace, that Izzie doesn't try to force a big holiday meal on everyone. If that seems odd to anyone besides George, no one comments on it.

In truth, it wouldn't have been much of a success anyway. Meredith and Derek both have to work, Cristina still isn't talking to anyone, and Izzie spends every spare second of her free time holed up in either her room or Alex's, so who might have cooked is a mystery.

Meredith doesn't even pretend to know what George, Mark, or Lexie are doing that day, the latter of which earns her a disapproving look from her boyfriend when he asks if she's checked on her sister.

"I am not my sister's keeper," she answers him wryly.

"She has her _own_ family," she points out when he reminds her Lexie is her _family_.

Derek is willing to let the subject drop for the moment because she actually referred to Lexie as her sister, even if she was being a smart ass at the time. He considers it a step.

But he brings it up again when he pages her to the on-call room two-thirds of the way through her shift and offers her a turkey sandwich and some pumpkin pie in the way of Thanksgiving dinner.

She sighs reluctantly but promises to invite her over to the house if she happens to run into her (but only _if_, she has no intention of hunting her down).

Mollified, Derek kisses the taste of pie from her mouth and she wraps her arms around his neck, deciding she can spare another half hour from babysitting interns in the pit.

It is a holiday, after all. There are plenty of sutures to keep them busy while she's gone.

He tells her he's thankful for her belly button as he nibbles around the edge of it and she laughs and tells him she's actually pretty thankful for his hands as they work like a team to undo the drawstring of her pants.

"Seriously," he agrees, his voice muffled as he continues his kisses downward. "They make me a lot of money."

She laughs again and then bites her lip and forgets all about sisters and interns and the Pilgrims for awhile until his beeper goes off, stirring them both from a post-sex haze made worse with increased levels of tryptophan.

"Lexie," he reminds her and she rolls her eyes good-naturedly as she slips back into her scrubs.

It's hard to be annoyed with his idealism when her legs are still wobbly. Plus, she decides, it wouldn't kill her to spread a little holiday cheer or whatever.

If she has to.

  
**02\. Christmas Eve**

She spends an hour by herself on Christmas Eve watching a toy train zoom around a Christmas village inside an ornament hung on their tree. She thinks the ornament is one of Derek's but she can't say for certain.

It seems like a very Derek-y kind of thing to have though and she wonders if he secretly harbors a Holiday Spirit he's never bothered to mention.

That worries her more than she's willing to admit. It's the first Christmas they've spent together, really together, which also makes it the first gift-giving occasion they've shared. He's the sort that gives her house plans in the middle of the summer, she can't imagine what he might have come up with for an actual bona fide holiday.

She got him a sweater.

It had seemed like a good purchase at the time. It was cashmere, his favorite color blue, and she had spent an unreasonable amount of time picturing him in it and thinking porny thoughts about _removing_ it. It was like a little gift for both of them.

But now she's looking at an ornament that has batteries and a motor and a little snowman that waves every time the train passes by and the sweater no longer seems like the best plan of action. Her boyfriend is obviously a closet Christmas freak and she's going to have to do better to wow him.

(It's suddenly very important that she wows him. She doesn't care what that says about her.)

She'll hit up Mark tomorrow for ideas. If she takes off work early-- Alex'd probably cover for her if she begged-- she can probably get to the mall before it closes and --

"What are you doing?" Derek's voice interrupts her thoughts. The tree muffles the sound.

"Looking at the lights," she says, not bothering to crawl out from underneath the enormous tree which doesn't seem to faze him at all as he simply crawls underneath with her.

"Do you do this often?" he asks as they watch his train make its circuit in the ornament's globe again and again.

"Izzie and George and I used to do this all the time," she tells him matter-of-factly. "And Doc."

"I miss Doc," he says softly, reaching for her hand and threading his fingers with hers.

They talk about a lot of things now but it's the first time they've mentioned their dog.

"Me too," she agrees, squeezing his hand. "He was a good dog."

She turns to look at him and he smiles, his eyes twinkling red and green and blue as the tree's lights blink above them.

She smiles back.

She knows what she can get him in addition to the sweater.

  
**03\. Christmas Day**

They have the gathering on Christmas Day that they didn't have on Thanksgiving, as if Izzie finally realized a whole holiday season was about to pass without her if she didn't think of something quick to throw together at the last minute.

'Thrown together' means finger foods and an assortment of holiday-themed candies. Derek makes the eggnog, Mark brings the scotch, and Alex brings the beer.

By three, they have all had some of each.

By four, they have dispersed into smaller groups around the living room and by four-thirty there appears to be a game of strip poker developing in the corner. Cristina bans Lexie from playing on the basis she would probably count cards. Meredith wonders if she's still carrying a grudge over Intern Fight Club but she isn't going to be the one to point that out. Besides, whatever keeps Lexie clothed in front of Mark works for her.

(Not that she cares or anything.)

Grabbing another beer, she looks around for Derek, making her way past all the coats in the foyer until she finds him alone in his new office.

"What are you doing?" she asks as she settles onto his lap, looping her arm around his neck and kissing him.

"I just got off the phone with my mom," he tells her guiltily, brushing his lips over the pulse in her neck. "It's been awhile."

"Oh," she asks a little breathlessly. "How'd that go?"

"Okay," he answers, the word reverberating against her skin. "It was okay."

They leave it at that.

"I want to give you a present now," he says moments later, handing her a small wrapped package seemingly out of nowhere. It's too big to be jewelry but she studies his face, bracing herself for whatever might be inside.

The ornament is unexpected.

He flicks a button on the bottom and the gingerbread house inside lights up while snow falls softly on the roof.

"Baby steps," he murmurs against her shoulder and she has to swallow back the emotion stuck in her throat.

He tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear and shrugs. "Now you have your own ornament for the tree."

"I do," she agrees as their lips meet again.

A wolf whistle from the living room breaks them apart before they realize their friends are still playing their game.

"Your present is in the garage," she laughs, sliding off his lap to retrieve it. "Close your eyes."

When he opens them again, there is a small, wiggly Labrador being deposited into his lap.

"You got me a puppy?" he laughs as the dog laps at his chin.

"No," she smiles, shaking her head. "I got _us_ a puppy."

  
**04\. New Years Eve**

She volunteers to work on New Year's Eve just like she has the past three years. In the long line of holidays Meredith doesn't usually celebrate, the start of a new year has always been pretty far down the list. It's irrelevant and pointless; the opportunity to change and start over only ever bringing another year of exactly the same.

Derek, of course, is a big fan.

She's only just starting to realize how deep his optimism really flows.

He wants a date but she already told Bailey she'd work a double and when he pouts, she tells him he should ask her out sometime when it _isn't_ a national holiday if he wants to go on one so badly. He only smiles at her like he's finally figured her out and then, somewhat predictably, volunteers his own services at the hospital for the night.

Not that she's seen him once.

The pit's overflowing and she gets stuck down there—again-- for hours supervising interns. It's not as satisfying as surgery but it keeps her busy and she doesn't even realize what time it is when she finally manages an escape, heading to the cafeteria for a much needed coffee break.

She never makes it.

She sees him coming toward her only seconds before he's at her side, his hand wrapping itself firmly around her arm and dragging her into a nearby storage closet.

"Derek," she scolds but his mouth descends on hers and he presses her against the closet door and she lets herself be distracted momentarily from the siren call of caffeine.

"I don't have time for this," she tries a moment later, breaking away with a gasp.

"Shh," he says and silences her with another kiss. His methods are effective but she's tired and irritable and she wants to sit down more than anything. Even sex.

So, she tries again. "Derek, I'm serious!"

He shushes her again. Tells her to listen.

"Listen to what?" she asks exasperated, especially when he covers her mouth again and she only hears the roaring of blood pounding in her ears.

"_Listen._"

She hears it then. Faintly, the sound of the nurses down the hall counting down from ten, cheering in the new year with abandon. Derek kisses her again somewhere around four and long after one, his tongue twisting around hers until she thinks she could maybe schedule in some sex after all.

He pulls away abruptly, smiles and kisses her forehead before opening the door.

"I just wanted to make sure we get another year together."

He disappears down the hall, leaving her blinking in bewilderment as she stares after him.

She's so whipped for him, it's not even funny.

  
**05\. Valentine's Day**

Their first Valentine's together as a couple who have rules and might give each other gifts, also happens to be the first night they've spent apart since Derek moved into her mother's house. He has a conference in Portland and she can't sleep without him.

She has no idea when she turned into _that_ girl but there's no point anymore in pretending it's not true. Still, she spends exactly two hours tossing and turning in their bed before she finally gives in and calls his cell phone.

It's late, definitely late enough for him to be asleep, but he answers on the second ring anyway.

"Hi," he says and she can hear the surprise in his voice and the lazy smile that goes with it.

They'd talked after his seminar earlier. She has no pretense for calling him now, aside from just wanting to talk to him, and they both know it.

"Hi," she replies, kicking her legs out underneath the blanket and letting the sound of his voice warm her. "I can't sleep."

He makes that small humming sound in his throat. "Me either."

"Today is Valentine's day," she tries out experimentally.

"It is," he agrees, amused.

She rolls her eyes. "I got you something."

"You did?" he asks and this time his surprise makes her feel a little guilty. "You got me a gift? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"I got you something too," he tells her giddily. "It's in the dresser if you want it."

All it's taken is a kidney and a Christmas full of ordinary presents to get her over her fear of surprises and she's at the dresser before he can add, "The second drawer."

"I don't know what your mother was doing in her third year," he explains softly as she quickly pulls open the drawer, revealing a black moleskine journal exactly like the ones her mother used.

"But I think you've proven you can be just as great as her, if you want to be."

Whatever she is expecting to find, it isn't this and she blinks back the sudden stinging at the corner of her eyelids, overwhelmed.

"You don't have to use it," he rushes on, mistaking her silence. "If you don't want. I know you think it's silly. But I thought that maybe you could write down--"

"Derek," she breathes and he stops instantly, waiting. "I love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he murmurs and she can hear him smiling again. "So what did you get me?"

"It's red," she says matter-of-factly, making her way back to the bed.

"Red?"

"And see-through."

He groans. "I love you, you know."

"I do," she smiles, hesitates, and then plunges in.

"I love you too."


End file.
